Monday, March 28, 2005

Well I just finished playing off Party’s March reload bonus. 1400 raked hands is a lot of hands. It took me about 15 hours of playing 3 tables of .50/1 limit holdem to clear the $200 bonus. Now that this out of the way it is time to find the next juicy bonus. I think I am headed over to Intertops Poker a new Party skin I just found. Don’t know what I am talking about? I will try to explain.

The party network is actually a network of 5 poker sites all playing on the same servers. Each site is called a party skin. The party skins are Party, Empire, Intertops, PokerNow, and Eurobet. If you are playing on Party you might be sitting at a table with someone playing on Empire or any of the other party skins. The software for each site is almost exactly identical. The only difference is the look of the table. Each site offers their own bonuses and other promotions. Each bonus code is specific to a particular site. If you enjoy playing on party poker then you have no excuse for not having accounts at all 5 sites.

Party has designed their software to make it difficult for players to create accounts at multiple sites. They do not state that you cannot have accounts at all sites. They just don’t make it easy for you to do so. Once you have user accounts set up on each of the skins you will not have problems. You have 2 options when creating a new account on a party skin.

Option 1: For most this will be the easiest option. First find a computer that has never had a Party skin previously installed on it. This should not be very hard to do. Any PC with an Internet connection should work. Once you have found a clean computer follow one of the links below and download the skin you want to create a new account on. Install the software and set up a new account. You will have to create a new username because your old name is already taken by yourself. You are going to want to use all the same information as you did for the previous accounts. (I.E. same Name, Address, Neteller, etc). I wouldn’t use fake information because sometimes party will make you verify the information you have provided. Every once in a while party will call and ask you why you are setting up a new account. Just give them some BS answer. “ I like the freerolls offered at such and such.” They will say OK and leave you alone. I have never gotten one of these calls. Once you have setup your new account you are done with this computer. You can now head back to your main computer and play on the new site as much as you want. Just download and install the software on you main computer and login with you new account information.

Option 2: This option is for those that are comfortable messing with the windows registry. I would only use this option as a last resort. Any time you mess with the windows registry you are taking a chance of messing up your computer. First you need to disconnect from the Internet. If you have dial up make sure you are not connected. If you use broadband or access the Internet through a network unplug the network cable from the back of your computer. To make sure you are disconnect from the Internet try and visit a web page. If you can’t pull up a web page then you are not connected to the Internet. If you can still pull up web pages then you are still connected. Once you are disconnected from the Internet you will have to uninstall all of the Party skins Installed on your computer. You may want to back your notes and hand histories before uninstalling. Once you have deleted all the Party skins. Go to start then run and type in regedit. I would suggest backing up your registry before making any changes. Go to hhkey local machine then software then calculator. You are going to want to delete this entry. Save your registry and restart your computer.

If you are using windows xp do the following otherwise skip to the next paragraph. Xp users are going to want to create a new user account on your computer. Go to control panel then User accounts then create new user. Make them an administrator. Now log off and switch to the new user you created.

Connect to the Internet and follow one of the links below to install the new party skin. Make sure to reconnect any connections that were unplugged. Install the software and set up the new account just as you would have in option 1. Once you have set up your new account you can go back and reinstall the other skins you just deleted. You will have to follow one of these steps for each new skin you want to create an account on.

This is the order that I would sign up for the different skins. If your bankroll is not large enough to get the max bonus then I would suggest waiting till it is. Some of these bonuses are one time deals and you don’t want to leave money on the table. Just because you make a large deposit at a site does not mean that you have to play with all that money. Make the big deposit then wait 24 to 48 hours and cash out the majority of your initial deposit. The money can be back in your bank account within under a week.

Empire: Empire is the largest skin after Party. They are currently offering new players a 20% bonus up to $100. Click Here to get this Bonus. You will need to make a $500 deposit to get the full bonus. You will have to play 5 raked hands for every bonus dollar. To clear the full bonus you would need to play 500 raked hands. I would start with empire because they are one of the few skins that offer monthly reloads like Party. Cash outs from Empire are very quick. The average cash out to neteller takes 3 hours.

Intertops: is the next skin I would sign up for. Folow This Link and use bonus code "HAPPY2005" to get the bonus. You will need to make a $500 deposit to get the full bonus. You will have to play 5 raked hands for every bonus dollar. To clear the full bonus you would need to play 500 raked hands. Intertops occasionally offers reload bonuses but not monthly like party or empire. To cash out at intertops you first have to transfer your money from the poker room to the sports book. Once you have transferred your money login to the sports book and transfer your money to neteller. Transfers are slow and takes 4 to 5 days for the money to hit your neteller account. Remember your poker screen name and your sports book login name are different.

Poker Now: They are currently offering new players a 20% bonus up to $100. Click Here for the bonus.You will need to make a $500 deposit to get the full bonus. You will have to play 10 raked hands for every bonus dollar. To clear the full bonus you would need to play 1000 raked hands. This is not as good as the other sites but still doable.

Eurobet:. They are currently offering new players 25% up to $50. . Folow This Link and use bonus code "LOY25" to get the bonus.You will need to make a $200 deposit to receive the full bonus. You will have to play 5 raked hands for every dollar in bonus. You will have to play 250 hands to clear the full $50. You will have to transfer money from the sports book to your poker account and vis versa for withdrawals. Make you sure to write down any sign up information you are given. I have yet to receive a confirmation email from Eurobet even though I have deposited, played off the bonus and cashed out.

So this should get you another $350 not including any reloads these sites will be offering in the future.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Party offered certain players special bonus offers today. Login to you party account to see if you are one of the lucky bastards that got one of these bonuses. If are one of these lucky fucks then the bonus will appear in a pop up saying you get a bonus or it will appear under your bonus account. I apparently wasn’t cool enough to be blessed with one of these account specific bonuses. I mean I sell out this site and put up Party affiliate codes and you guys can’t even throw me a bone. What are you going to do next, take away my birthday? Hey my parents died when I was ten why don’t you write me an email reminding me of that! Thanks for nothing party.

Ok, now that that is off my chest. There appear to be 2 different bonuses party has decided to give to people other than myself. It seems if your account was empty then you had a better chance of picking up one of these bonuses. So I would suggest not keeping any money in your party account unless you are actively clearing a bonus. I would keep the money in Neteller or another skin/ site. (You like that party? I just told everyone to cash out their party accounts. Maybe next time you will think before you pass me over on a special bonus.) The first bonus is called MAR05RELEASE. This is a 15% bonus upto $100. You would have to deposit $666 to get the full bonus. If you did get this bonus you are going to hell for sure. The other is called MAR05CASHOUT2. This is $50 bonus for 500 raked hands. I am not sure if you can get both of these bonuses but if you did then I have a little secret to tell you. You are adopted and your parents don’t love you.

P.S. Anyone who posts in the comment section about how great it is to get these bonuses will be ridiculed off the internet. So don’t even think about it.

Saturday, March 19, 2005

If you thought you missed the reload bonus at Ultimate Bet then you were sadly mistaken. Ultimate Bet has extended its current reload offer until Wed. March 23, 2005 11pm ET. For further details see the post below entitled Help Out the OL Bank Roll.

Friday, March 18, 2005

Well I was hoping to have a little more time between post, but I had to let you guys know about the latest offer from Party. Party is the largest site on the Net and has more players at any given time than any other online poker site. Being the largest allows them to throw more money around than the smaller sites. I would say at least half of my bonus money comes from Party and the different Party Skins. Some people hate party and just refuse to play there. I used to be one of those players. I don’t particularly like the software and the players there are so fishy that they can put some of the most horrendous beats on you. That being said party is a gold mine. If you can avoid the tilt factor on the suckouts then you will soon fall in love with this site. After you clear a few of their bonuses you will soon forget about the less than stellar software and become immune to tilt on the suckouts.(Ok the suckouts are still going to be a bitch but they sting less and less each time) If you haven’t signed up for Party then I suggest you do so right now.

Party is currently offering a 20% sign up bonus up to $100 for new players. Just click here , Download the software and make your first deposit. You will need to make a deposit of $500 to get the full $100 bonus. You earn the bonus by playing raked hands. For every 5 raked hands you receive $1 in bonus. A raked hand is any hand you were dealt cards and party took a percentage of the pot. Not all hands are raked but most are. To check how many hands you have played go to cashier then click bonus account and it will show you exactly how many hands you have counted toward the bonus. To get the full bonus you will have to play 500 raked hands. The bonus expires if it isn’t cleared in 30 days. The bonus will be released all at one time once the raked hand requirements have been met. If you don’t play 500 hands in a month then I suggest depositing less than the full amount so that you can get some bonus. It takes me roughly 5 hours playing 3 tables of .5/$1 to clear a bonus like this one. So roughly 15 hours of single table play should clear the bonus.

Already have a Party account? They are currently offering a 20% reload bonus up to $200. Just deposit between now and Wed. March 23, 2005 at 23:59 EST. Enter Bonus Code "BONUSMAR" with out the quotes when depositing. You will need to make a $1,000 deposit to get the full bonus. For every dollar in bonus you will have to play 7 raked hands. To clear the full bonus you will have to play 1400 hands. You will have 7 days from the time of your deposit to play the required hands. For some people this is a lot of hands to play in a week. Playing full ring limit holdem I average roughly 40-45 raked hands an hour per table. Playing 3 tables at a time I usually clear a bonus like this in 15 hours. $13 an hour is pretty hard to beat when playing .50/$1.

You can combine this reload bonus with the new player sign up bonus. You will have to make 2 separate deposits to get both bonuses. Any cashouts prior to the reload bonus will void the bonus so you can’t pull your money out then put it back in just to get the bonus. If you are considering playing both bonuses I would suggest not doing the deposits on the same day. I would make the initial deposit for the new player bonus then try to clear it before the reload bonus expires and then make the second deposit for the reload bonus. That way you won’t have to play 1900 hands in 7 days. If you are a new player you will have to claim the new player bonus before the deposit bonus. Any hands played will go to the sign up bonus until it is cleared and then hands after that will count toward the reload bonus.

Well that should keep you busy for a little while. Two post and you have already picked up an extra $625. If you were fast enough to pick up the reload bonus at UB and don’t have enough funds in Neteller to do the Party reload I would suggest withdrawing your funds out of UB to Neteller and then depositing into Party. Cashouts from UB to Neteller usually take 2 to 3 hours. The bonus from UB never expires and it will be there once you are done with the Party Reload. Besides the Party reload clears at a much faster rate than the bonus at UB. I have a few other bonus codes for Party that not a lot of people know about but I will save those for a later post.

Well I probably should have introduced myself before making my first post but I wanted to make sure that some of you were able to pick up the reload bonus offered by UB before it expired. Now that we have that out of the way I’ll give you a little background information on myself and how I hope to contribute to this BLOG.

My name is Chris and I have been playing poker for about 2 -3 years now. Matt, Lloyd and I all went to Southwestern University together. We all started playing poker about the same time, right around the time the first season of the WPT started airing. Matt and Lloyd seem to have progressed a little faster than I have but I can still hold my own at the table. I have never met Taylor but he is the resident badass at UB so hopefully I can learn a thing or two from him. Most of my post won’t be about strategy and will be more of a heads up about the hottest bonuses and promotional offers from the different poker sites.

I have been bonus hopping (I called it whoring in my first post but obviously that was too much for some of you railbirds to handle so I will call it bonus hopping from here on out) for about 2 months now and have setup a rather good system to take full advantage of all this free money poker sites are giving away just to play at their site. In the first two months I made $1400 in bonuses alone. I now know how to get even more bang for my buck and will most likely earn $1,000 this month and don’t see that slowing down anytime soon. When I am clearing a bonus I like to play 3 tables of full ring .50/$1 limit holdem or 2 tables of $1/2 depending on the site and the bonus. Multi-tabling does effect your BB/hour/ table rate but clearing the bonus at a faster rate more than makes up for the 1 or 2 bets lost due to multi-table play. I will say this if you are new to multi table play then start slow and work your way up. Don’t just jump in and start playing 4 tables at once, it can get a little hectic at times and takes a little time getting used to.

I usually play 2 to 3 hours of poker a day. The income I generate from bonuses is about triple what I make from players at the table. Unless you are playing $2/ $4 or higher you will probably be able to make more from bonus hopping than you will from table profit. This doesn’t mean if you are playing the higher limits that you can’t collect the bonuses, it just means the higher the limits you play the less the total income these bonuses represent. .50/$1 may seem like low limits to some but I just made the switch to limit holdem and am taking my time making sure I am a winning player at a certain limit before moving up. Prior to this I played 10 person $20 SNGs exclusively but made the switch to limit because I saw the kind of money I could be making by switching over. I plan to move up limits as soon as I am satisfied that I have mastered the limit I am playing. The eventual plan is to be playing 2 to 3 tables of $2/$4 or $3/$6. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

I’d like to take this moment to give a shout out to Little Kiki and Lee Dawg in A-town. With out them none of this would be possible. OK that last part was a lie. On a side note my birthday is Thursday and my favorite beer is Fat Tire. HINT HINT HINT.

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Many times during the normal course of a poker players career, things aren't going that well. This is inevitable. It can be the result of bad beats, bad cards, or other factors in life causing you to not play your best game. I wanted to talk today about what to focus on when you are going through a time like this. I feel it is very important to consider these things as sometimes to be a winning player its more important to minimize your losses than to just try to maximize your wins.

The first thing to focus on is pretty obvious, but it still should be mentioned. Tighten up the cards you are playing. When I am playing poorly, it is usuall a result of a combination of two things. Usually I am playing too loose, and also not catching any flops with these cards. Because of this, my table image suffers as I am in a ton of pots and am not showing down great cards. The only way to remedy this situation is to start showing down some big hands. However, since my table image is not good, I will not be able to pick up many pots unless I have a good hand. This takes away a lot of the value of playing these cards because I have to hit my hand in order to win a pot. Because of these reasons, playing tighter is necessary when things aren't going well at the table. Once you start winning a few hands, you can start to loosen up again. I would recommend throwing away any hands except for pairs, AK, AQ and maybe something like JTs.

You should also focus on playing in position more. This is something you should always do, but you should focus on it more when you are having a bad stretch of cards. Don't be afraid to fold a hand like AQ or AJ even if its unraised to you and you are in middle position. If you have a loose image, someone is liable to call from the button with anything and try to 'take the pot away' from you. However, if you have this hand on the button or cutoff, you should still be agressive with it.

Finally, I think it is important to take some time away from the game. Lloyd mentioned this the other day, and I agree with it. If you are having a terrible session, just quit for the day. I've talked about this before but I think some people lose sight of it. If you find yourself unwilling or unable to quit, it's probably a sign you have a gambling problem and poker probably isn't the best thing for you to be doing. Next time you are having a terrible session, make yourself stop before you really want to. If you can't stop, you should seriously consider if you have might have a gambling problem.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

If you are just starting out, building your bankroll is going to be key in becoming a successful poker player. I will be giving you a few tips on establishing a solid bankroll through bonus whoring. If you already have an established bankroll then I will explain how to pick up an extra $500 to $1,000 a month just for doing what you are already doing, Playing winning poker. If you are currently playing at a poker site and not receiving some kind of bonus from the site then you are just throwing money away. If you aren’t interested in becoming a bonus whore then you don’t have to read my posts and can read the other great posts on this blog, otherwise let the whoring begin.

The first thing you will need is a Neteller account. I assume most of you have one of these already but if you don’t just go to www.neteller.com and sign up. It takes about a week to get your bank account verified but it is pretty painless and is the best way to move money between poker sites. Once you have your Neteller account set up you are ready to start bonus whoring. I would suggest putting at least $1,000 into your Neteller account. I like to have at least $3,000 floating between poker sites and Neteller at any given time. I know some of you don’t have or don’t want to invest this much in your bankroll at this time. If you can’t put $1,000 in I would suggest putting as much money as you can possibly spare into your account at this time. The more money you have in your bankroll the more money you will receive in bonuses. Don’t worry though, if you follow these posts your bankroll will explode with free money and by the end of the first or second month you should have a very healthy bankroll.

The first site I will discus is Ultimate Bet. This is by far my favorite site. Everyone that posts here plays almost exclusively on UB. The software is the fastest I have seen of any site and I have accounts at over 20 sites. If you haven’t signed up at UB yet this is the perfect time to do it. They are currently offering new members a 40% sign up bonus up to $200. If you want this offer just click here or on the banner to the left. Download the software make a deposit and you are all set. You will need to make a deposit of $500 to get the full $200 bonus. Yeah we get a few bucks for you signing up but you get $200 plus a great post later on how we blew through all the money we made from the site in Vegas on Hookers and Blow. Seems like a fair trade to me.

To clear the bonus you have to earn Ultimate Points by playing in cash ring games. For every 10 UB points you earn you clear $1 in bonus cash. At this time points earned in tournaments or SNGs don’t count toward the bonus. The best part about this bonus is it never expires and you receive the bonus money you earned as soon as you leave the table. You don’t have to wait around a week or a month to get your bonus. You get it in small increments every time you play. The higher the limits you play the faster the bonus clears. Another trick is to be one of the first people to sit at a table. UB will give you double points if you start up a new table. This means you clear the bonus twice as fast. The official rules for the bonus can be found at the site.

Already have an account at UB? They are currently offering a 25% reload up to $125. (The site says up to $100 but as erci pointed out it is actually up to $125) Just deposit between now and 11PM ET Thursday March 23th.(this was extended from March 17th recently) You will need to make a deposit of $500 to get the max bonus. You can do both the sign up bonus and the reload bonus. You will have to make 2 separate deposits but you can do them back to back. You will not be able to make 1 deposit and then cash out and make the 2nd deposit. The first cashout will void the reload bonus. If you don’t have the funds in you Neteller account but do have the funds in your bank account then you can do an instant Neteller transfer and UB will pick up the charges at no cost to you. Just be sure you do this through the UB software.

Once a bonus from UB hits your account it never expires. You can work through this bonus as fast or a slow as you like. Don’t want to play at UB right now? Just wait 48 hours from your last deposit and cash your money out. Neteller cashouts usually take around 3 hours tops. Your bonus money will stay in your account until you come back.

This is the first of many sites I will explain how to whore out. I will periodically be posting the best sign up and reload bonus so check back often. If you follow these posts then you will easily add an additional $500 to $1000 a month just by simply hopping from site to site picking up bonuses. Hell this is only your first site and you have already picked up $325 bucks. See how simple this stuff is.

A lot of our posts have referenced bankroll management and in fact have stressed the importance of it. Tonight, a new poster will give a different take on the subject than Taylor, Lloyd, or I. He actually generates most of his income from bonuses. He will show that even if you are a break-even player how to make money online. Chris Power is a good poker player that I've known for five years. He graduated Southwestern University with Lloyd and I and is a regular drinking buddy of mine in Houston. I expect, no I demand you give him shit in the comments section.

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

My laptop has now been broken for almost two weeks. I’m in the process of getting it fixed but things are going about as slow as Maurice Clarett. In the mean time I can’t play any poker and my only access to a computer is the computer lab at my school. Because I feel a little distant from poker strategy right now I would like to talk about the importance of being a well-rounded poker player.

I have read some articles about the common cycle that beginning poker players go through. Generally, in the very beginning the new player has a blast playing poker and sees it mostly as entertainment, with an unknown chance of winning money. Then the new player realizes how much skill is involved and he begins to study the game not unlike he would a subject in school. After the ‘student’ phase ends, the new player uses what he has learned, adds a personal touch, and comes into his own. Although this is a basic run down, I think this is about the transition I went through.

However, a concept that I have only seen written about once is the importance of being a well-rounded poker player. When I say well rounded I don’t mean throwing in triple draw and pineapple instead of just hold em, I mean well rounded in life.

Once you are in the final phase of the typical ‘poker education’ poker becomes less like a game and more like a job. However with a job, you only work for a set number of hours while poker can start taking up your life. Personally, I have had a lot of trouble with this in the past year. Poker can become very addictive when you win, however like in ‘Rounders,’ if you are not careful, you whole life can become one big grind.

I encourage all of you to look at how much time poker takes up in your life. If you constantly play poker instead of doing other meaningful things such as hanging out with friends or getting exercise, I firmly believe you will be benefited by addressing it now. As far as determining the correct balance, that is up to you.

I’m sorry if this comes across as depressing and don’t think for a second this post means I’m quitting poker. I’ll be back in Texas next week and Matt and I are heading down to Lake Charles on Friday for a nice little session. Any of you are welcome to join us; we will be the ones yelling “Ship It!”

Sunday, March 13, 2005

Yes, I'm alive. I apologize i havent been able to post because it is the week of midterms at U of I and for some reason I really care about them. I have three exams Monday, which is why I am sitting here saturday night studying. Expect me to start posting Tuesday or Wednesday, when I wake up from my sleep after the hell that will be Monday.

Friday, March 11, 2005

Over the Christmas break I went to Aruba with my brother and my folks for a vacation. Was the fact that there were three casinos with texas hold'em mearly a coincidence? I don't think so. Aruba was sweet. I won one small tournament and made about $1500 even though I only played 3 or 4 days. My dad won a tournament also but the real star of the trip was my little brother, Drew (not that little - 22), who won 2 tournaments and finished 3rd and 4th in two others. He only played in 6 total tournaments also. He's turning into quite a player and won't let me forget it. Of course we had a deal before two of his big tournaments so I made a lot of money off of him. Thanks bro. Let's just say that most of the players in Aruba are terrible. "I had KJ - I had to go for it right?" I heard that phrase or one like it over 100 times. Anyways, sorry for not posting that much. It's been a rough week as I've been sick and Lloyd has been out of town. We think that Taylor is still alive but it hasn't been confirmed.

Sunday, March 06, 2005

I traveled to the always exciting Georgetown, TX this weekend to hang out with some fellow alumnus of Southwestern University. It was 'Founder's Weekend' for our fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike), which was founded on March 1st a long time ago. While I admit, poker was not the main reason I drove 6 hours roundtrip, there was a poker tournament that I intended on winning. I first played hold'em because of the fraternity and we take the game very seriously. The tournament during Founder's Weekend and the one at the University's Homecoming are kind of a big deal in our fraternity. Admittedly, the Founder's tournament isn't as big as the Homecoming tournament but there is still a lot of pride at stake. I have never won a big Pike tournament and to my knowledge neither has Lloyd which is a fact that has not escaped the members of the fraternity. And, I'm sorry to say the losing streak continued for me. Lloyd was in South Carolina so it was up to me to take home the trophy and I came in 10th out of 16. Oh well, there's always next year. There were only 16 players at 2 tables and the prevailing thought was to hurry the tournament up so we would have more time to drin......hang out. We started with 1000 chips and blinds of 10 and 20. The blinds went up every 10 minutes so you had to catch some cards. My disaster hand was when I raised with AK of diamonds and got 2 callers. The board came 3 4 8 with two diamonds. There was about 350 in the pot and I had 1000 chips left but I only bet 250 and got one caller. The turn was the 3 of clubs and it went check-check. The river didn't help and we checked it down. I lost to 55. I played it terribly and it cost me. The blinds killed me as I didn't catch any cards. I ended up moving all-in with A9o and getting called by AK. See ya. My brother, who got 2nd out of 35 last time, is a very good player and got knocked out before me. That was about the only saving grace. Congrats to Josh Nowak who won after making a deal. Also, congrats to James Lundquist who was the defending champ and took 2nd place.

Friday, March 04, 2005

Heads up play, with the one on one format, constant action, and the ever-present possibility of being bluffed, is a very emotional game. Therefore, it is not surprising that another regular opponent that must be discussed is the player on tilt. This player can come to you from a few different places. First, this player can be a heads up player type already discussed that has simply lost his head and gone on tilt. Second, this player can be a regular full ring game player who has suffered an unfortunate hand or hands and now wants to get it all back quickly playing heads up. Third, this player can be a higher limit heads up player who has recently lost a significant portion of his bankroll and is now playing in a lower limit game with total disregard to the money before him. I think that while each of these players has some different nuances in their game, tilt is tilt and they play mostly the same.

Name: Mr. Tilt

Playing Style: This player bets and raises like South Carolina’s football players break the law. Pre-flop, this player will raise pot close to 100% on the button. Out of position this player will either raise pot pre-flop close to 100% of the time, or regain some sense and remember how important position is. Either way, a pot bet on the flop is almost a certainty if this player raised pre-flop. If he is simply called on the flop, this player will fire out as many bullets as he can when holding just about any hand. If raised, this player might re-raise if he has a decent hand, call if he has a weak hand, or fold if he has absolutely nothing. However, this player might also call with nothing for a chance to bluff on a later street. When facing a pre-flop raise, Mr. Tilt will call with or without position when holding almost anything. After the flop this player might bet pot when first to act, check raise, check call, or rarely check fold.

Strength: The thing about a player on tilt that too many card players forget is that they get the same amount of monster hands as you do. Yes it is easy to write off this player’s bets and raises as bluffs, but you just might be facing the stone cold nuts. Accordingly one of this player’s main strengths is his ability to make his opponents forget that sometimes this player is NOT bluffing. Mr. Tilt will bet the same amount whether he has trash or a royal flush, and the truth is, you never know what you are up against until the showdown. Another strength this player has is his fearlessness. With total disregard for money, this player will not think twice about jumping all over any sign of weakness in his opponent. Most sensible players are of course capable of picking up a huge pot with nothing when weakness is sensed, but with this player, it is the rule instead of the exception. This player’s final strength is his ability to get his opponent on tilt or just to play poorly. An example being that because Mr. Tilt raises 100% of the hands on the button, his opponent might get frustrated knowing Mr. Tilt is raising with trash. The player will then start calling pot raises out of position with hands like J7 suited.

Weakness: Well for one, this player hasno respect for three slightly important things in poker: his cards, and his chips, and thinking. Because this player will constantly fire bullets, he will walk right into many slow played hands and shed many chips making dumb bluffs. Mr. Tilt’s opponent simply has to wait for a strong hand and let Mr. Tilt bet for him the whole way. Another weakness of Mr. Tilt is that he is a sucker for falling for his opponent’s induced bluff. This player falls for an induced bluff like Michael Jackson falls for…well that is just disgusting. Finally, Mr. Tilt does not think in a poker game and therefore does not really notice what his opponent is doing. If Mr. Tilt is facing an opponent who IS thinking about what is going on (you), Mr. Tilt is at another disadvantage.

Plan of Attack: Don’t forget to be selective in what you call raises with out of position. Yes it is frustrating constantly folding to inferior hands pre-flop. However in reality, you are going to get bluffed out of the hand later if you don’t hit your J7 on the flop. Even if the flop comes like 765, you might be put to a decision for all your chips. Be very selective out of position and only call with hands that you are prepared to go to war with when you hit. Also, don’t re-raise pot out of position unless you hold something like the top 5 starting hands. For one you will definitely get called, and secondly you know you are going to be put to a decision, as Mr. Tilt will make at least one stab at this pot. On the button you want to again be selective with starting hands but be aggressive when you get a good one. There is no point in raising with junk on the button because you know you will be called and probably bluffed out. Simply wait for a good hand and make him pay. When you do hit a monster either in position or out of position do one of two things. If out of position just let him bet for you. Raise here only if you are scared of him hitting an obvious draw on the board. If you have position, induce the bluff by under-betting or betting on the flop, then checking the turn. You will be surprised how well inducing the bluff works against this guy. Inducing the bluff against a player on tilt is one of my greatest joys in poker.

Notes: Tilt is a finite resource and you should always remember that a player’s mentality and style will change. Be prepared for this player to stop tilting and start playing well. However, you want to keep this player on tilt. Another one of my great joys in poker is showing a well-timed bluff to a tilting player. Showing a bluff to Mr. Tilt is like hitting a huge hornets nest with a stick. Sit back and wait for the explosion of fury. Two things should be remembered about this play. One is that it is tricky to bluff Mr. Tilt because he is crazy and might call or raise with 9 high. Two, there is no reason not to show a bluff to Mr. Tilt because he is already not thinking and probably won’t put to good use the information you give away. The last thing I will talk about when playing Mr. Tilt is that the swings are capable of being very high. Don’t play this guy under funded! Hey, you shouldn’t be playing under funded anyway but especially not against this guy. You are going to be forced to make many long calls with mediocre hands against this guy and the last thing you need to be worried about is losing your bankroll. Good luck!

On a personal note, my laptop mysteriously broke this week after my opponenet hit perfect perfect when we were all in on the flop. I'm kidding, my labtop broke but it had nothing to do with poker so it has been hard to write. I am also going on vacation for spring break next week and will be unable to post. However, thanks to all of you who regularly read us! We are currently thinking about some new ideas for the site and would love your input. Ship It!

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

For those of you who don't know much about this software, I'd like to give a little recommendation on one of the best ways to improve your game. Poker Tracker is a program you can purchase that will keep track of all of the stats you can imagine at the poker table. I'd like to start by saying that I have no financial interest in this program whatsoever, I just love the program and think it is a great tool for anyone looking to improve their poker game.

Why use poker tracker you ask? I'll tell you why I like it so much. Poker Tracker uses hand history information to keep track of every player at the table's stats. You can figure out your hourly rate, BB/100, how often you saw the flop, how often you raised, how much each of the 169 possible hands has won/lost you, and much much more. You can also keep track of who the big winners and losers are, which is important when you are playing with the same players everyday (this happens at the higher stakes games more often than the lower stakes games). You can also use it to figure out what type of game best suits you. I have found that I have the best BB/100 in NL games where there are between 2-5 players. I still am a winning player at the full tables, but not by nearly as much. I have made a decided effort to improve my ring game play (full table) because of poker tracker, and I feel I am becoming a better player because of it. Next, it works great with UB with the hand history grabber program that you can download with it. This program grabs every hand history that you tell it to, just by running the program as well as opening the hand history box. All you have to do is import these hand histories, and you can see all of your stats.

I seriously recommend you check out pokertracker, at www.pokertracker.com. You can download a free trial version, and it will let you store up to 1000 hands for free. After that I think the software costs about 50 bucks. If you are playing .5-1nl, or 3-6 limit or above, buying this software is a no brainer in my opinion. The stats you see about your game, and your opponents will win you back your investment in a few weeks, tops.